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Chapter Two

“Yes, you see here?” Cephalie pointed her cane at an old-fashioned blackboard floating over Isaac’s knee. The blackboard displayed a chalky animated rendition of his meeting with the commissioners. “Right…there.”

The image paused with his “thugs” comment frozen in his speech bubble.

“I couldn’t say nothing,” Isaac defended.

“True. True.” Cephalie clacked her virtual cane atop his thigh. “But you also could have held back a bit. Played your hand more cautiously.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Isaac leaned back in his seat outside the conference room. “The chief said they had a ‘series of questions’ but he only asked the one. That’s not a good sign.” He ran rough fingers through his hair and took a deep, calming breath. “You think there’ll be any repercussions?”

“I wouldn’t stress over this if I were you.” Cephalie banished the blackboard with a wave of her cane. “You’re not getting this special assignment, whatever it may be, but they’re not going to punish you for a botched interview. And even if they did, what’s the worst they could do? A rotation on Neptune might do you some good.”

“Please don’t give them any ideas.”

Isaac tapped his fingers on the knee opposite Cephalie and took another deep breath. He tried to focus his mind on something else as he waited, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the displeased expression on Lamont’s face.

“They’re coming out,” Cephalie said several minutes later. She vanished from his knee as the door split open.

Isaac rose to attention and watched the physical commissioners file out of the room. Tyrel shook her head as she exited and didn’t bother looking his way as her feet carried her automatically to her next appointment. Jamieson Hawke, commissioner of Argo Division, came up alongside her and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“It’ll be all right, Vesna.”

“No, it won’t,” was all she said as the two headed down the corridor.

The physical commissioners headed off, and Lamont stepped out after them followed by a young man wearing Admin Peacekeeper blues. Isaac’s heartbeat quickened when they stopped in front of him.

Oh dear…

“Detective Cho, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The Admin official smiled warmly and extended a hand. “My name is Jonas Shigeki. I’m the Under-Director of Foreign Affairs within the Admin’s Department of Temporal Investigation.”

“Hello, Director.” Isaac grasped the man’s hand and shook it.

Jonas took a step back and turned to Lamont with an expectant smile.

“Well, Chief?” He gestured to Isaac. “Would you like to do the honors?”

“Yes, I suppose I should.”

“Sir?” Isaac looked to the chief.

“Congratulations, Detective,” Lamont said, though his tone made it sound like he was inviting Isaac to a funeral.

“Sir?”

“You’ve been selected to participate in an officer exchange program with the Admin.”

“Me?” Isaac’s eyes bugged out.

“Yes,” Lamont said dryly. “You.”

“Am I being sent to the Admin?” Isaac asked, a hint of dread in his tone.

“No,” Lamont corrected quickly. “Your assignment to Kronos Station remains unchanged. However, you’ll be working with a DTI special agent from now on. She’ll act as your deputy for the next three months.”

“With options to extend the duration,” Jonas pointed out.

“Yes,” Lamont conceded. “If this goes well.”

“As I have every confidence it will.”

“A DTI agent?” Isaac asked. “Assigned to me?”

“That’s right,” Lamont said. “Agent Susan Cantrell will be granted the rank of ‘acting deputy detective’ while she serves within SysGov space. She’ll be a full member of the System Police, from a legal perspective, with all the rights and responsibilities that implies and for the full duration of her stay.”

“I’ve been assigned a deputy?” Isaac creased his brow. “Starting when?”

“In, oh”—Jonas summoned a clock over his palm—“about an hour, let’s say. How’s three o’clock sound to everyone?”

“An hour?” Isaac shook his head, struggling with the barrage of revelations. “Sir, I haven’t prepared for this. I’ve never had a deputy before, and I don’t know the first thing about working with an Admin agent. I’m a terrible choice for this assignment!”

“Please,” Jonas reassured. “No need to be modest.”

“Director, I—” Isaac began.

“Chief, if you’ll excuse me,” Jonas cut in. “I’d like to head down to our ambassadorial dock and make sure Agent Cantrell is ready.”

“Yes, that’s quite all right.”

“I’d take the detective with me, but I’m sure you’d enjoy a private word with him before his new assignment begins.”

“I would indeed, yes.”

“In that case”—he backed away and gave them both a wave—“zhù hao yùn!

Isaac and Lamont waited for the director to disappear down the counter-grav tube at the far end of the corridor.

“His English is pretty good,” Isaac said, impressed with the director’s farewell when compared to Admin speakers he’d caught in the news. Those last three words originated from the Old Chinese “zhù hǎo yùn” meaning “good luck,” but the linguistic foundation for SysGov’s<> Modern English came from a fusion of both Old English and Old Chinese, with the tonal vowels of Old Chinese being adapted to serve as a subtle undercurrent to the language. This versatility allowed tonal inflection to imbue those three simple words with a wide variety of meanings.

“Yes,” Lamont agreed, “and it’s my understanding he stopped using translation software a few months back.”

“I see.” Isaac nodded, waited for his superior to continue, and only spoke up when he didn’t. “Sir, about this assignment.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Pardon me for saying this, but you don’t seem happy with the arrangement.”

“That’s because I’m not.” He faced Isaac. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you weren’t our first choice.”

“No offense taken, sir. I don’t think I’m a good choice either. But I’ll do the absolute best job I can under these circumstances.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Isaac glanced down the hall once more.

“So, it was the director who chose me?”

“That’s right.”

“Any idea why?”

“No, and that bothers me.”

“Hmm.” Isaac pondered what this could mean. “Anything I should be on my toes about?”

“I doubt it,” Lamont dismissed. “Again, don’t take offense, but you’re not important enough for the Admin to take that kind of interest in you.”

“Again, none taken, sir.”

“Honestly, I think the director is being straight with us about his intentions. He wants this to succeed and is doing everything he can to make that happen.” Lamont shook his head. “In his own misguided way. If the president hadn’t handed all our leverage over, maybe we could have avoided this.”

“Sir, do you have the service record for the agent I’m to be paired with?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” Lamont held up his palm, and a file transfer opened. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, sir.” He accepted the file.

“And here are our latest reports on Admin culture. Make sure you read them.”

“I will, sir. Thank you.”

“And here are a few more on the DTI and some of the other organizations within their government, profiles on their political leaders, analyses on current social climate, reviews of recent terrorist attacks, and so on.”

“Yes, thank you.” Isaac frowned as he accepted the mountain of documentation.

“Oh, and you should take these as well.” A trio of gray-green files appeared between them. “You technically don’t have clearance for these, but I’ll see to it you’re granted retroactive approval.”

Isaac hesitated for a moment as he eyed the classified Gordian documents, but he reached out and accepted them.

“Are you sure I’ll need all this, sir?”

“Would you rather dive into this assignment less prepared?”

“No, sir. Point taken.” Isaac opened Susan Cantrell’s service record and skimmed the digest. “A ‘STAND’ agent?” He read on, only vaguely familiar with the term. “‘Special Training And Nonorganic Deployment.’”

“Yes. The Admin feels one of their synthoids would experience less culture shock over here, and I think they at least have that much right.”

“But wouldn’t they want to pair her to someone with roughly the same age and level of experience?”

“Actually, you’re about the same age.”

“Oh?” Isaac scrolled up a bit. “Oh, I see. Thirty-two? Quite young to have a synthetic body, at least by our standards.”

“And someone like her is even rarer in the Admin.” Lamont crossed his arms. “The director has assured us she’s exceptionally skilled at her job and highly motivated for this post. Her service record, at least, reflects well on her professionally.”

“I see.” Isaac closed the file. He’d review it later in more detail. “Anything else, sir?”

“One more thing before you leave.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Whatever you do around her.” Lamont planted his hands on Isaac’s shoulders. “Whatever you say to her.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Remember this one thing.” Lamont leaned in. “Do not embarrass us.”

* * *

“I can do that.” Isaac twisted to look at Cephalie, now perched on his shoulder. “You think I can do that, right?”

“Oh, sure,” she said, then chuckled. “Just be yourself. You’ll do fine.”

“Are you trying to make me doubt myself?”

His descent through the counter-grav tube slowed, and his path arced out through an opening until both feet came to rest in a wide circular space near the station’s southern pole. The walls were Peacekeeper blue with a white line running through the middle, indicating this area had been set aside for Admin use. He followed the virtual markers down the widest of the adjacent passages to a guarded doorway at the far end. The emblem of a silver shield covered most of the doorway.

“Holler if you need anything,” Cephalie said before vanishing.

“Right.”

Two gray-skinned, yellow-eyed synthoids in Peacekeeper blues, one male and one female, stood watch on either side of the doorway. Both carried nasty-looking rifles and were flanked by a pair of drones the size of large dogs but with guns for faces.

Such a friendly bunch, Isaac thought. I should be grateful they didn’t put me in their sights as soon as I showed up.

He stopped in front of the two synthoids, who regarded him with calculated indifference.

“Detective Isaac Cho, reporting per Director Shigeki’s request.” He offered them his SysPol ID file.

The woman checked his credentials while the man opened a communications window.

“Yes?” Jonas Shigeki said on the other end of the window.

“You asked to be notified when Detective Cho arrived.”

“I did. And?”

“Detective Cho has arrived.”

“Splendid. Send him on in.”

“Yes, sir.”

The window closed, and the two synthoids exchanged looks.

“His ID checks out,” the woman reported. They nodded to each other and placed their palms against infosystem pads on either side of the doorway. The silver shield emblem split down the middle and opened to reveal a wide hangar bay. A single craft slightly larger than a standard pattern corvette rested in a prog-steel cradle. The vessel vaguely resembled a manta ray with its wide delta wing and the long tail of its dimension-rending impeller spike.

“Director Shigeki will see you now.” She pointed at the vessel with her thumb. “He’s in the chronoport.”

“Thank you.” Isaac walked in and managed not to flinch when the door sealed shut behind him. He headed over to the open ramp underneath the chronoport’s nose. Modular weapon systems hung from hardpoints beneath the wings, including a pair of outboard laser pods and four box launchers for guided missiles.

Two Peacekeepers descended the ramp: Jonas Shigeki and a young woman Isaac assumed to be Susan Cantrell. He’d half expected her synthetic body to feature the gray skin and yellow eyes found on many Admin synthoids, but then he thought of her young age, and he also seemed to recall hearing somewhere that newer Admin synthoids featured lifelike cosmetic skin now that their society had become acquainted with the concept.

She was beautiful, too, with a lean, athletic body. She wore her red hair in a pixie cut, and her hazel eyes caught his. In an earlier era, someone in Isaac’s shoes might have considered her stunning, but he came from a society where medical science for the young, synthetic bodies for the old, and avatars for the abstract made the idealized human form a common occurrence, and her looks barely registered beyond casual acknowledgement.

She’s better looking than I expected, he thought.

The three of them met at the base of the ramp, and Susan retrieved her peaked cap from under her arm and fitted it back into place. She held herself with poise and confidence, and her face carried a look of cool professionalism, but underneath Isaac thought he saw a hint of something else. Nervousness, perhaps? That wouldn’t surprise him; he was nervous, too.

“Detective Cho, thank you for coming.” Jonas placed a hand on Susan’s shoulder and urged her forward. “Allow me to introduce DTI Special Agent Susan Cantrell, one of our best STANDs. Agent, this is Detective Isaac Cho of the Themis Division.”

“A pleasure, sir.” Susan extended a hand.

“Likewise, Agent,” Isaac replied, and shook her hand. Or tried to. She may have looked delicate, but her hand only moved when she moved it.

“And is your integrated companion with you?” Jonas asked.

“Why, yes. She is.” Isaac tapped his shoulder, and Cephalie’s avatar materialized. “This is my IC, Encephalon.”

“Nice to meet you as well.” Susan nodded to the avatar, and Isaac breathed an inner sigh of relief. She hadn’t freaked out at the sight of a free-roaming artificial intelligence. That was a good start.

“Please, call me Cephalie.” She gave Susan a wave, then vanished.

“Splendid.” Jonas rubbed his hands together. “Just a few brief pieces of business, then I think we can get the two of you underway.”

“Yes, about that,” Isaac said. “I missed my original flight to Saturn.”

“Not a problem,” Jonas assured them. “I spoke with Commissioner Hawke a few minutes ago about your travel situation. Regrettably, he informed me there aren’t any patrol fleet craft scheduled to leave for Saturn in the next few days, so he helped me book passage for the two of you on a civilian saucer. Once we’re done here, a SysPol corvette will rendezvous with the saucer and drop you off.”

“Ah. Good,” Isaac remarked. Nine days on a civilian transport didn’t sound bad at all.

“Now, just a few things I’d like to point out.” Jonas gestured down the length of Susan’s body. “Agent Cantrell’s synthoid is the first in a new model series. Built with SysGov collaborations in mind, it features the latest Admin technology and is fully compatible with your infostructures. Agent, how’s it working out for you?”

“Perfectly, sir. No issues to report.”

“Wonderful. I’m actually a little jealous. You’re about to be the first person from our universe to truly experience SysGov.” He flashed a half smile at Isaac. “As you may be aware, most Admin citizens, myself included, can only process virtual sight and sound. But Agent Cantrell has no such restrictions; she’s now able to experience any SysGov abstraction in its entirety.”

“That’s good to hear,” Isaac remarked. “Our investigations sometimes include work in abstractions, so I’m glad that won’t present any technical hurdles.”

“It won’t, sir,” Susan said with confidence. “You can count on it.”

“Furthermore,” Jonas continued, “in addition to her standard kit, which we’ve already sent to the Argo corvette, we’ve given Agent Cantrell a wide selection of Admin pattern files, all adapted for compatibility with SysGov printers. If there’s anything she needs in terms of repair parts or additional equipment, she has the printing pattern for it.”

“Sounds very prudent.” Isaac nodded at this, though he wasn’t sure what the director meant by “standard kit.”

“That said, hopefully most won’t be needed,” Susan said. “It’d be nice not to have my legs blown off again.”

“Your legs?” Isaac blinked. “Again?”

“It’s a long story,” she said as if it were nothing, though having one’s legs blown off didn’t sound like nothing to Isaac, synthoid body or no.

“Our work in the DTI can sometimes be a bit…rougher than what you’re used to,” Jonas explained. “And STANDs often serve as the tip of the Peacekeeper spear.”

“So I’ve heard,” Isaac said.

“The important part is if her body is damaged, you won’t need to call us for spares.”

“Which works out for me,” Susan said. “I’d hate to be stuck here without legs.”

“I’m sure we can avoid that,” Isaac stressed.

“Well then.” Jonas clapped his hands together. “I believe that’s everything I wanted to cover.” He passed a destination to the two of them. “The corvette’s waiting for you two. Good luck out there. Oh, and agent?”

“Yes, sir?”

Jonas placed a hand on Susan’s shoulder. The two made eye contact, and their facial expressions and body language made it look like they were having a conversation even though their lips weren’t moving.

Admin closed-circuit chat, Isaac noted, recalling another tidbit he’d read about SysGov’s multiverse neighbor. They’re making sure the conversation’s private by avoiding any wireless transmissions.

Susan gave the director a quizzical expression, but then nodded to him. He smiled, removed his hand, and headed up the ramp.

“Shall we head out, sir?” Susan asked him.

“Yes. Let’s,” Isaac replied, though he grimaced a little at the whole “sir” thing. He led the way out of the hangar and back to the counter-grav tube. He stepped out into the open shaft, but Susan hesitated for a moment before joining him.

“This is a bit weird.” She looked around the tube as they sped up through the station.

“How so?” he asked.

“No artificial gravity where I come from.”

“Ah. Of course.”

A secondary tube branched off the main one, taking them in a long arcing path around the station’s circumference until they arrived at their destination hangar. The elliptical SysPol corvette sat in its cradle, and a virtual image provided a view of space beyond the closed airlock. He could see the full coin of Earth’s moon rising over the corvette, white clouds swirling across its bluish landscape. Greenery dotted the surface here and there, and the thin silver band of its orbital ring glinted in the sunlight.

Isaac headed for the corvette, then stopped and turned back to her when he realized Susan wasn’t following.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Is that Luna?”

“Yes?” He glanced at the distant orb, then back to her. “And?”

“It’s blue.”

“Yes?”

“Why is it blue?”

“Well, umm.” He turned back to it, then back to her once more. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s all gray where I come from.”

“Oh, right!” He snapped his fingers. “Luna didn’t always have oceans and an atmosphere.”

“You just remembered that?”

“Well, it was terraformed long before I was born.” He shrugged. “This is normal for me.”

“I see.” She gazed at the distant moon, then let out a slow, sad sigh.

“You okay?” He walked back over to her.

“Yeah. It just hit me, that’s all.”

“What did?”

“How far away from home I am.”

“I can understand that.” He nodded, then gave her a warm smile. “Welcome to SysGov. If you think a moon with an atmosphere is something, just wait until we reach Saturn.”


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